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In The Kitchen With Lemonpi

April 24, 2009

To say that I am thrilled to have Yuie from Lemonpi guest blog today is an understatement. I am honored that she jumped right in when I asked and look at that dessert she made for the occasion!We don't know each other much outside our blog but I have been following hers for quite some time and it is always a feast for the eyes and a delight for the brain. I love her sense of humor and the girl is extremely talented. Her ideas are always fresh and her plating is exquisite. Could I have a little bit of a blog crush? Oh yes...Everytime I visit her blog I want to scream "Somebody give this gal prime position in a pastry kitchen!" She is too good to be someone's assistant!Let your eyes wander upon her latest creation and recipe right after the jump, and please tell me you agree: talent...

Where is your country? he said.I dont know, said John Grady. I dont know where it is.I dont know what happens to country.

--All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

I've been feeling nervous about guest-posting for Helen this week. It's a little like being asked to do a jig to entertain the crowd before Michael Jackson turns up to do the moonwalk. You just know it's going to be a tough crowd.

Add my fear of public speaking into that mixing bowl, and you have one big cake of anxiety. In fact, I still clearly remember the last time I was required to give a presentation. It was at school, and the topic was Conflict Resolution. I was so fearful of having to stand in front of a whole class, that I didn't. Instead, I gave my presentation using sock puppets, so that I could hide under the desk and let my hands do the talking instead. My sock-puppet-chefs, fought, exchanged strong words, came to blows and finally resolved their conflict. I even stapled turkey frills to each sock, to indicate chef hats.

But anyway.

For this guest appearance, I thought I would come up with something that I hope embraces the spirit of 'Tartelette'. One of the reasons why I love Helen's blog is because she has a really strong sense of self. Her desserts are firmly embedded in the seasons from which they're conceived and they lovingly recall aspects of her childhood and her current life.

I was born in a tropical country and didn't exactly spend my early childhood surrounded by rustic baking or elaborate pastries (I wish). Now that I have been living in Australia for so many years however, I feel so much a part of the culture and way of life. This is home.

I've made something in honour of Anzac Day which is observed every year in Australia on the 25th of April. My dessert, 'The Anzac' essentially consists of a sticky oatmeal tart topped with a layer of coconut bavarian and Anzac 'streussel'. Bursting with coconut, oats and golden syrup, it celebrates the textures and flavours of the famous Anzac biscuit/cookie.

Hope you enjoyed the brief sugar rush, and thank you for bearing with me. Don't worry, Michael Jackson won't be too long now. (Helen? Helen?? ...)

For the Anzac biscuits/cookies:Recipe is here. Either bake as cookies and later crumble what you need into pieces to use as the tart topping, or scatter the raw mixture on a baking tray as you would a streussel, and bake it that way.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).Place the tart cases on a baking sheet. Spread a thin layer of jam into each tart case. Put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. Divide the filling between the tart cases. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300F (150C) and bake for a further 20 minutes until the browned and set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand to soften while you prepare the cream. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until very pale. In the meantime, in a medium large saucepan set over medium heat, bring the coconut milk to a simmer. Slowly pour the milk over the yolks, whisking constantly to prevent them from curdling. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan over medium low heat and cook until the cream coats the back of a spoon (as if making creme anglaise). Add the softened gelatin and stir until melted completely into the cream. Let cool to room temperature. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to soft peaks on medium speed and fold it into the cooled cream base. Pour this mixture into two6” rings (1 1/4” high) lined with acetate. Chill overnight.To assemble: Unmould the bavarians and place it on top of the tarts. Top each bavarian with the crumbled Anzac biscuits/cookies. Dust with icing sugar and serve..

oh, my that looks very tempting! what a wonderful presentation, may i also add. i'm very curious about the cookies, but the link doesn't seem to work (sorry about pointing that out the whole post just made my day)

And Y,I think we might be psychically connected. I have been visualising about the main structures of this tart all week for the coming-up DB challenge, and here it is, albeit with different components. Not that I mind, since I hope it means that I'm getting some of your baking talents.

Oh yay!! Two of my favorite peeps to tweet with :) Lemonpi, is your name really Yuie?!? :) That's my nickname!! Fabulous post, hon and what a creation. I love Anzac biscuits, so can only imagine how awesome this dessert must be. As for Helen... I think she's still tweeting ;) ha ha ha. xxoo

Seanna Lea: the bavarian is poured into a ring that is placed on tp of the baked tart and filling. The ring is lined with acetate (plastic sleeve covers work fine) so that it lifts easily and all you do is peel the acetate.

Helen, thanks again for asking me to guest post. It was so much fun :) Oh and thank you for the intro. I consider myself more of a behind-the-scenes kind of person, so I actually love the assisting role :)

Thanks also to everyone for the kind comments!

Jen, what a coincidence.. Yuie is my nickname too! My full name is too hard for most people to remember, so they call me Yuie instead.

Yuie, what a beautiful creation and a great way to commemorate Anzac day. I'm completely impressed with your coconut-chocked creation. It's not only visually stunning but sounds delicious, as well. Great job!

Gorgeous! Y, should you ever decide to leave the pastry arts, you will easily find a job as food photographer and stylist. As anyone who has ever tried to photograph food knows, it is not easy to get such great lighting, depths of field, focus, backdrops etc, yet Y makes it all seem to effortless because she gets it perfect every single time. Thank you for a lovely post.

Y - you have definitely put your personal stamp on the Anzac 'dessert'. This is fantastic. It puts my humble biscuits to shame. I share the same sentiment as many above... I always look forward to seeing what you put together on your blog. Always inspiring. Always unique.

Y's done it again. Makes me wish I was living in Australia where I had access to her goodies... and glad to be far far away where I don't have to use will power to refrain from eating everything in sight.

That first picture is fantastic, with the sharp foreground and the fade to slightly blurry.

Oh my god! Too much pleasure. Two of my favorite sites intersect with some seriously delicious sweetness. I only learned about the Anzac biscuit last year, but have been fascinated ever since--and this really feeds (pun int.) my obsession!